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My World...Then And Now

The cool-off period that our group took after April was extending far too long. Finally, we all decided that it was time to buck up and get back to work. At the meeting (which I missed because of work) it was decided to take up the Theme as “REWIND”. When one says that word, there’s only one thing that happens to me……I am immediately reminded of my sweet childhood memories.

The only means of communication those days was via Landline Telephones. In a way, life was so peaceful back then as there were no mobile phones to distract you. The humble landline served not only as a connect between distant relatives, but also helped build relations closer to us. I fondly remember how our neighbours used to attend calls at our house as they didn’t have telephones at their homes. This in-turn would lead to long sessions of gossip, chit-chat and friendly banter with our family. They shared their happiness, sorrow, problems and solutions with us.

Letters back then were handwritten. I can still picturise our excitement whenever we received a letter, delivered personally by a postman. Those letters had a personal touch to them. I used to derive utmost pleasure in tearing open the envelope, unfolding the paper and seeing the script. All these things were as important to me as the contents of the letter. Cards were painstakingly made from scratch and importance was given to every detail. We had “pen-pals”, some of them even from different parts of the world. Whenever letters from outside India arrived, the stamps were carefully detached and added to the precious collection in our closets.

Television was a luxury! There were hardly any programmes for kids back then, but we looked forward to watching those cartoons on Sunday mornings with our friends. Evenings were rarely spent at home and washing powder sales would have probably been higher back then, given the state of our clothes when we returned!!!

Jolted back to the present, I realised how small the world has become. Everyone has mobile phones and so don’t need to go to others homes to communicate. Thanks to the internet, handwritten letters have become a thing of the past. Postage stamps are a rarity and are almost on the verge of becoming a collectors’ trivia. Television and internet offer such huge variety of information and entertainment, that kids are forgetting to interact with others of their age.

Although we are moving forward in every field as far as technology is concerned, somewhere I feel the pinch that we lack in personal interaction, human values and simply “being there” for our near and dear ones. Often I find people craving for a small hug or a simple chat, in spite of having a thousand friends on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. So where exactly are we heading??? Is this the world we are gifting to our future generations??? Can the increasing loneliness be the norm in future???

Share your views and thoughts about this with me. I would love to hear from you all!!

From the Eastman coloured memories to the multidimensional virtual world reality...we all have come a long way. Your article chronicles that journey so well...The end is very thought provoking...was the old world charm the gratest of all the time and is the current world is as virtual as it can be?Good read!

Of all the things you mentioned, I miss the hand written letters the most. It was so much fun writing to friends and cousins and then waiting for their letters. I think we bonded more because we used to share so much in those letters. Today we are a second away but that warmth and personal touch is missing.

Such a beautiful walk down memory lane, Prasanna. I used to write letters to my grandmother, even though she wasn't literate. She cherished each one of them. I miss the landlines too, these mobile phones have left us with no privacy whatsoever!I loved reading this, thanks for sharing:)

Such a beautiful post remembering things from the past... I remember that feeling of pride while telling friends yes we have a colour Television Set & a Telephone at home.. hahahaWriting letters, yes loved them I used to send to my cousins and then aunt would red circle all the grammatical/spelling mistakes and send back :-(I would still say our time was the best one :-) Lovely post dear

Oh your post brought back memories. We didn't even have a phone at home those days. And we used to write long letters to our friends during the summer vacations because we had no contact with them at all. TV came in very late too and we'd have neighbours dropping by to watch Chitrahar. And our mom would get frustrated because with all that commotion she could hardly expect us to sit and study! We were most happy of course :-).